A blog about rhetoric, technology, research, and where we're headed next.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Whole Foods' CEO caught anonymously posting about his company and rivals

John Mackey, iconoclastic CEO of Whole Foods, posted freely on Yahoo Finance stock forums from 1999 to 2006 "under an alias ["Rahodeb"] to avoid having his comments associated with the Company and to avoid others placing too much emphasis on his remarks," according to a company statement. The WSJ continues:

Mr. Mackey declined to be interviewed. But he soon posted on the company Web site, saying that the FTC was quoting Rahodeb "to embarrass both me and Whole Foods." He also said: "I posted on Yahoo! under a pseudonym because I had fun doing it. Many people post on bulletin boards using pseudonyms." He said that "I never intended any of those postings to be identified with me."